Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-07-19
BUILDING A TOWN.
The Importance and Benefit OF Having
Residences and Business Houses
Ready for Occupancy.
Vacant Houses in Growing City Do Not
Indicate Ro:roGression to 1Jen of
Sense-A Valuable Hint.
baltimore manufacturers Record

is9lLlnOrC hdnGiaCkurers RECORD.
We have never known town or city built
yet, without first building houses for the peo-
pie 10 live in who are to make up the popula
ton OF such places. We are not well enough
posted as to facts. to say whether or not this
business is being neglected here. Eut 1t would
seem to be the part Of prudent foresight for
the land companies of the town TO do what
they an on this line Strangers at distance
VINO hear OF the wonderful boom of the town
and who come here and see the high priced
lois Of which they have heard al vacant and
no Improvements Of any kind being put upon
them, are apt to conclude that the whole thing
IS 8 speculative move with but little sCNd
foundation. We are satisfied that such Is not
the fact but It may impress a stranger that
way. a Writer in Tennessee Valley, Decatur.
This advice as to building houses is
very much TO the point. Quite number
Of southern towns are being seriously
il iured and hlndeTed in their growth by
this lack OF houses. 1t is as this TCOres-
pondent says, rather disappointing TO
visitors to these places TO hnd vacant
land the most conspicuous object. They
expect TO see great building activity snd
hundreds Of houses going up, but in too
many places they fail 10 find this.
If any one OF q number Of these in
dustrial centers would announce to the
world that 500 or 1000 good, Commodious
dwellings,, well planned, had been con-
traCted Tor, and that they would be built
Just as rapidly as possible, It would be
productive OF more good, we believe,
than securing the location OF some i'm
mense car end locomotive works; it
would draw more people, cause . greater
advance in real estate, and do the town
more good. The spandlug of 81 900, 600
in this way would not only prove Of in
CalCulahle value to the town, but the in
vestmenr would be 8 very profitable one.
/ 1t would, in fact, yield big returns. We
believe every house would be rented or
sold al good profit long before
Il WAS haished. Such an IN
dertaking would show the faith Of
The leading men CT e town in lis future
more p0intedIy and emphatically than
ANYTHING that could be devised Strangers
would cay this is tie place TO invest and
TO locate new industries, and here We
will cast our lot, for these men are
demonstrating by actual works their faith
Ia their town.
There are q few Of these great land and
Improvement companies that are strong
enough financially TO undertake such Q
scheme. II they have not the ready cash,
they could asIly secure ii, end We be-
lieFG that they would find il one Of the
best investments that they ever made.
which one viii take lead alG thus give g
practical invitation to the thousands VINO
wish to move south to select their town
SIS \ home? This will be the Winning
card. Real estate would double in value
under such q stimulus, snd people would
flock there from the south, from the north
and from the west.
These points 2re well enforced by 81
article in the New Orleans Times-DemO-
crat, in which, in discussing some recent
statistics of Bradstreet's as to the relG-
ton between real estate sales and build
ing operations, says:
The former should bear some relation TO
the building going on IN q city. and when the
transfers Erc out OF all proportion to the build
Ing. there IL every reason for believing That the
purchases of Ian are mainly speculative and
gambling. EradstreCts leans to this latter be-
lief that much Of the activity In some local.
ties is of q speculative character: and the
statistics 1t gives seem to support this
theory.
New York is the largest builder and the
largest dealer in real estate In the country. II
/. he taken as q criterion, the value of build
ings erected should he one third of the real
estate transfers. Philadelphia, on the other
hand, is a building city and does not speculate
at al. in land. Ii Is bought there TO build
on. The town sold in five month of 1856
SO 0OoGN0 Of real estate ard built
Sls.OOoUOJ of houses in 1851 for the same pc
ROD the real estate transfers were S25.OOOUOOr
the building 5000 .OgO In other words. the
per cent. OF building to real estate transfers
averages -. ON the other hand, in Los Angeles
the percentage is but per cent. There were
transfers of S3O.526.O62 in the California town,
against but dngs put up costing SjOtOO.o
zeal estate IN Wichita. Kan. is still more spec
uative. the transfers being S4 535G5 TO ST.
GlI97O of buildings erected or per cent Min
neapOIs sold S2li65.2I of real estate anc
erected 81. SI5.5SI of houses. or per cent. Den
yer g. rdS n. f04. A. ana Invested only 2l.l&9l5
or PSF cent. in rick ana mortar"